In the last few decades, housing in Indonesia has been developed from time to time. It has been changing from traditional to modern building, sloping to flat roof, single to multiple storeys, wood to concrete, elevated to landed, and low to high-cost building. Some changes give improvement to the performance of the building, but some might have negative impacts to the building and the environment. The reason for the change might vary from the trends, occupants’ comfort, and force by nature. The factor of nature that was influenced by the microclimate conditions such as temperature and humidity made some adjustments in the house design. However, there has been a growing concern about the spreading of informal and unplanned housing in Indonesia which accommodate the majority of low-income people in Indonesia. To solve the social gap between high-income people and low-income communities, the government directs the housing policy in the context of providing access to decent, safe, and affordable housing and settlements without slums by three main approaches, namely the demand side, the supply side, and the enabling environment. On the other hand, climate change affects the thermal performance of housing. As the temperature rises, the energy consumption also increases due to the use of active means. Therefore, this paper tries to review about the development of housing in Indonesia from several aspects such as political and climatic context, vernacular to the upraise of low-cost apartment buildings. This study aims to look at the challenges, acceptability, and opportunities of low-cost apartment buildings in the future.